Research Articles
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A research article reports the results of original research, assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given area, and is published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The faculty publications through published and on-going articles/researches are captured in this community
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Item Women, Gender, and Development in Africa(The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies, 2020) Anyidoho, N.A.Gender denotes the social prescriptions associated with biological sex in regard to roles, behavior, appearance, cognition, emotions, and so on. Social relations of gender or gender relations encompass all relationships in which gender sub jectivities play a role, including those among people, and between people and the institutions, systems, and processes of development. The chapter describes three features of gender relations that are generally consistent across societies – gender ideologies and myths; gendered division of labor; and unequal power relation ships – and discusses their implications for development. The chapter further explains the centrality of gender to the development enterprise and discusses various approaches to integrating gender analysis in development processes.Item An institutional perspective on application programming interface development and integration(Information Technology & People, 2023) Ofoeda, J.; Boateng, R.; Effah, J.Purpose – Digital platforms increase their function and scope by leveraging boundary resources and complementary add-on products from third-party developers to interact with external entities and producers. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are essential boundary resources developers use to connect applications, systems and platforms. This notwithstanding, previous API studies tend to focus more on the technical dimensions, with little on the social and cultural contexts underpinning API innovations. This study relies on the new (neo) institutional theory (focusing on regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars) as an analytical lens to understand the institutional forces that affect API integration among digital firms. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a qualitative case study methodology and relies on phone calls and a semi-structured in-depth interview approach of a Ghanaian digital music platform to uncover the institutional forces affecting API integration. Findings – The findings reveal that regulative institutions such as excessive tax regimes mostly constrained API development and integration initiatives. However, other regulative institutions like the government digitalization agenda enabled API integration. Normative institutions, such as the growing use of e-payment options, enabled API integration in digital music platforms. Cultural-cognitive institutions like employee ego constrained the API integration process in music digital platforms. Originality/value – This study primarily contributes to deepening understanding of the relevant literature by exploring the institutional forces that affect API integration among digital firms in a developing economy. The study also uncovered a new form of an institution known as motivational institution as an enabler for API development and integration in digital music platforms.Item After the Structural Adjustment Programme for Africa’s Economic Crisis What Next? A Look at Some Immediate African Alternative Development Strategies(2020) Bawa, J.; Ateku, A-J.In the late 1960s and early 1970s Sub-Saharan Africa experienced an unprecedented economic crisis shutting the exhilarating expectations of economic stability and development associated with independence. In response to the African abysmal economic decline, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was introduced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a recovery economic policy for Africa. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, most Sub-Saharan African countries had implemented the programme as conditionality for aid. However, the implementation of these programmes had a massive negative impact on African economies with the problem of balance of payment deficits. With the failure of the structural adjustment programmes, Africans with the support of the United Nations began to look for other alternative economic recovery strategies to address the African economic doldrums. This paper therefore takes a critical look at three of the most immediate alternative development strategies of Africa which includes; the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) and the Abuja Treaty for the establishment of the African Economic Community (AEC) 1980-2000; Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986 -1990 (APPER) which later became UN Programme of Action for Africa’s Economic Recovery and Development (UN-PAAERD) (1986); and the African Alternative Framework for Structural Adjustment (AAF-SAP) 1989. The paper concludes that post-colonial governments found it very easy to seek for alternative development plans as substitutes for the IMF and World Bank imposed SAPs but such strategies suffered from actual implementations accounting for their failures.Item Domestic Violence against Women in Ghana: The Attitudes of Men toward Wife-Beating(Journal of International Women's Studies, 2017) Osei-Tutu, E.M.; Ampadu, E.This study examines the issue of domestic violence against women; specifically, men’s attitudes toward wife beating. The data used was obtained from the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The results presented in this study come from a total 3,052 males from across all the 10 regions in Ghana. It is interesting to note that, although majority of the participants do not endorse wife beating, there was a significant number of these men who thought wife beating was justified for various reasons. That is, the attitude of men toward wife beating is complex to explain as the participants had divergent views regarding the issue. For example, while some were of the opinion that wife beating is justified, others thought otherwise. The results also established that there is a direct relationship between men’s level of education and their attitudes toward wife beating. That is, those who were highly educated did not endorse wife beating as compared to those who were not highly educated. Furthermore, men who were in consensual unions or customary marriages were found to be in favour of wife-beating as compared to their counterparts in other types of marriage. It is therefore recommended that institutions that could help reduce domestic violence particularly wife beating in Ghana such as, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) will need to focus their attention on men with relatively low education as well as those in consensual and customary marriages.Item Information literacy development and competencies of high school students in Accra(Information Discovery and Delivery, 2023) Kankam, P.N.Purpose – Information literacy (IL) is clearly important for academic performance, as evidenced by literature. It could be defined as a set of abilities, attitudes and experiences that enable people to recognize when they need information to solve an issue. The importance of investigating students’ IL competencies cannot be overstated. This study therefore aims to look into the IL development and competencies of high school students in Accra, as there appears to be a dearth of systematic study on this in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – To investigate this phenomenon, the study used a survey research design with a mixed-methods approach and a post-positivist research paradigm. A total of 454 high school students, 3 librarians and 3 heads of ICT departments from three senior high schools in Accra participated in this study. This study used two methods: an audit of the IL programmes and practices available at the selected schools as well as IL literacy assessment through the use of a standardized test instrument. The data collection tools used were a semi-structured interview schedule and a questionnaire. Findings – This study found that high school students in Accra had low IL competencies. Again, the findings of this study revealed that inadequate infrastructure and lack of formalized IL instructions in schools hindered the IL development of students. Originality/value – The author considers the study original both in conceptualization and design. The main question being interrogated stems from identified gaps in the literature and this study intends to fill these knowledge gaps. This study’s originality also stems from the fact that there is a paucity of information on the subject of study in the context of Ghana. This study recommends the need to integrate IL in the school curriculum to ensure effective and efficient IL instructions in high schools.Item Development of a diarrhoea severity scoring scale in a passive health facility-based surveillance system(PLOS ONE, 2022) St Jean, D.T; Chilyabanyama, O.N; Bosomprah, S; Asombang, M; Velu, R.M; Chibuye, M; et alAbstract Background Diarrhoeal disease remains a leading cause of death among children mostly in low and middle- income countries. Factors contributing to disease severity are complex and there is currently no consensus on a scoring tool for use in community-based studies. Methods Data were collected during a passive surveillance system in an outpatient health facility in Lusaka, Zambia from March 2019 to July 2019. Diarrhea episodes were assessed for severity using an in-house severity scoring tool (CIDRZ) and previously published scores (Vesikari, Clark, CODA, and DHAKA). The CIDRZ score was constructed using fieldworker-reported clinical signs and exploratory factor analysis. We used precision-recall curves measuring severe diarrhoea (i.e., requiring intravenous rehydration or referred for hospital admission) to determine the best performing scores. Then, we used Cronbach’s alpha to assess the scale’s internal consistency. Finally, we used Cohen’s kappa to assess agreement between the scores. Results Of 110 diarrhea episodes, 3 (3%) required intravenous rehydration or were referred for hospital admission. The precision-recall area under the curve of each score as a predictor of severe diarrhoea requiring intravenous rehydration or hospital admission was 0.26 for Vesikari, 0.18 for CODA, 0.24 for Clark, 0.59 for DHAKA, and 0.59 for CIDRZ. The CIDRZ scale had substantial reliability and performed similarly to the DHAKA score. Conclusions Diarrhoea severity scores focused on characteristics specific to dehydration status may better predict severe diarrhea among children in Lusaka. Aetiology-specific scoring tools may not be appropriate for use in community healthcare settings. Validation studies for the CIDRZ score in diverse settings and with larger sample sizes are warranted.Item Improvement in cowpea variety Videza for traits of extra earliness and higher seed yield(Heliyon, 2022) Amenorpe, G.; Dorvlo, I.K.; Amoatey, H.M.; Amiteye, S.; Kutufam, J.T.; Afutu, E.; Asare-Bediako, E.; Darkwa, A.A.The cowpea variety Videza, which was used as the control, matures early (70 days after planting), although it produces low yields. Gamma irradiation mutagenesis was used to induce Videza into extra-early maturing and higher yielding mutant genotypes. A single seed descend population was developed for radio-sensitivity test, and a Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) of 240.5 Gy was determined, and applied from a cobalt-60 (60Co) source, to acutely mass irradiate 1800 Videza seeds, at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. The irradiated seeds (M1) were planted to produce M2 seeds bearing plants and subsequently advanced to M3 plants for selection of nine induced plants based on extra earliness and significantly higher seed yields than the parental control. It took 48 days after planting (DAP) for the genotype coded P1N02#1 to reach 50 % maturity followed by 52 DAP for genotypes with codes P4N03#3; P3N01#5; P5N05#6, P4N14#7, P5N07#8, P5N05#10 and 54 DAP for genotype P4N14#11. P1N06#9 had the highest yield (97.38 g/plant), followed by P5N05#10 (95.97 g/plant), P1N08#13 (81.24 g/ plant), P2N09#12 (73.94 g/plant), P6N10#19 (70.83 g/plant), P1N06#20 (65.36 kg/plant), P5N07#14 (61.23 g/plant), P4N14# (58.05 g/plant) and P1N08#17 (56.23 g/plant). M3 seeds were advanced to M4 plants for a Preliminary Yield Trial which revealed that induced plants P5N05#10 (1235 kg/ha), P2N09#12 (1206 kg/ha), P5N07#14 (1185 kg/ha), P1N06#20 (1171 kg/ha), P1N06#9 (1051 kg/ha), P1N08#13 (1041 kg/ha), and P6N10#19 (999 kg/ha) outperformed the control (517 kg/ha) and two other commercial varieties. Overall, the two highest performing candidates for further evaluation for varietal release were P5N05#10 and P2N09#12.Item Development in astronomy and space science in Africa(Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2018) Pović, M.; Backes, M.; Baki, P.; Baratoux, D.; Tessema, S.B.; Benkhaldoun, Z.; Bode, M.; Klutse, N.A.B.; et al.The development of astronomy and space science in Africa has grown significantly over the past few years. These advancements make the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals more achievable, and open up the possibility of new beneficial collaborations.Item COVID-19 vaccines development in Africa: a review of current situation and existing challenges of vaccine production(Korean Vaccine Society, 2022) Lamptey, E.; Senkyire, E.K.; Benita, D.A.; Boakye, E.O.Following the development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and the launching of vaccination, the World Health Organization has reported that the African Continent is lagging in the race to vaccinate its population against the deadly virus. The Continent has received a limited number of vaccines, implying that vaccine production needs to be scaled up in Africa. In this review, we summarize the current situation concerning COVID-19 vaccine development in Africa, progress made, challenges faced in vaccine development over the years and potential strategies that will harness vaccine production success.Item The emergence and institutionalization of feminist geography in Ghana(Gender, Place & Culture, 2019-08-11) Wrigley-Asante, C.; Ardayfio-Schandorf, E.The emergence and institutionalization of feminist geography in Ghana was in tandem with the global feminist movement in the 1970s and its subsequent international women’s conferences. This paper discusses the pioneering work and research at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, and its effect on the institutionalization and diffusion of feminist geography in Ghana. Through research and external collaborations, the need for gender as an academic discipline was strongly argued for and instituted as an undergraduate course at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana. These external collaborations with other feminist geographers in international geography associations and universities served as a boost as they created opportunities for highlighting the spatial variations in the role and situation of particularly women’s lives in Ghana. Subsequently, there was a diffusion of feminist geography research and its institutionalization as an academic sub-discipline in Geography departments in other Ghanaian universities. These notwithstanding, the departments of Geography in Ghanaian universities are still dominated by male faculty members. Moreover, research work has been mainly in the field of human geography more than the physical aspects calling for the mainstreaming of gender issues in all the systematic branches of the discipline.